“Life began to throw big surprises, and mostly negative ones”

Kommersant asked the heads of companies and one region whether they are making plans at the present time and how much time is allocated for them.

Alexander Shevelev, Severstal CEO:

The planning horizon is getting shorter. But I would shift the focus from the question of what period to plan for, to the question of “how to plan?”. Flexibility and speed of reaction are especially important now. I always said: a bad plan is one that cannot be changed. We have a set of business tools that allow you to make the planning process flexible.

If we talk about short-term planning, these are weekly “headquarters” of key managers in areas that allow you to take into account new inputs and quickly correct actions. At the same time, longer-term planning cannot be neglected. But plans should take into account different scenarios – from negative to favorable, and also include regular assessment of key elements.

---

Oleg Sysuev, President, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alfa-Bank:

— In the bank, we try to plan everything the same way as we planned before. But we understand that we must live for today, that is, plan for a short period of time. The most unpleasant thing is that life began to throw up big surprises, and mostly negative ones.

The horizon of my personal planning became no more than a week. I don’t know who, God or someone else, but there, in heaven, there is a lot and constantly laughs about our plans. I always planned vacations and weekends, and today is a great success if at least something works out.

Recently, plans are either violated or simply do not work out. I have a feeling that this situation will continue for a long time. And for me, a person already aged, this is a very negative factor. I think that the young will definitely live to see the time when it will be possible to plan and implement a year or more planned with a horizon, but I’m afraid that my generation will not succeed.

---

Alexey Vasyasin, General Director of the United Cinema Network “Formula Kino”, “Cinema Park”, “Kino Okko”:

— There is no horizon due to the unpredictability of the situation. Planning assumes that you are based on some kind of statistics, a database. What is happening now in the country and in the world is unprecedented. Accordingly, what you are planning is fortune-telling, and I have never done this either on cards or on coffee grounds.

Yes, we think something there, but in fact it does not apply to planning. There is a set of understandable actions for the near future, when we clearly know that such and such releases will come out, that the geopolitical situation will not change dramatically, and so on. It’s now one or two days maximum. Everything personal has faded into the background. We will rest in the next life.

---

Oleg Sirota, owner of the Istra Cheese Factory:

– I plan for two or three months – according to the calendar of our grandfathers. Autumn is the most difficult period, as it is necessary to have time to collect, preserve and process the crop. Then live until Christmas. And if we make it to Easter, then it will be summer soon, and it will be easier there and it will be clear what happens next.

In the meantime, it’s hard – they are mobilizing employees, only half of the tractor drivers remain. After September 21, demand falls, besides, banks began to close credit limits, fearing that the head of the farm might fall under partial mobilization. And this actually means bankruptcy.

But even in this reality, if I don’t find time to run or go to the gym, I won’t fall asleep. And after an hour of running, you manage to disconnect from all problems and positively tune in to tomorrow.

---

Vasily Golubev, Governor of the Rostov Region:

– The usual horizon is a five-year period, so as not to drown in the routine, and medium-term – plans for years, steps towards achieving goals. The operational plan in my work is a schedule for three months. This is a very detailed schedule in which cases are scheduled literally by the hour. These plans are quite accurately implemented. And if they ask me what I did on a certain day and hour two, three or seven years ago, I will answer specifically.

Of course, plans are not dogma, and they can change too. But they unequivocally add consistency and thoroughness in work, and therefore, effectiveness. Well, they allow you to cut out the 25th hour of the day to communicate with loved ones. This is the best recharge.

---

Lev Ambinder, President of Rusfond:

— Planning horizon — from several days to 15 months. Today, few people know what will happen tomorrow, and almost nothing depends on us at all. So what is the horizon, what is the planning? But on the other hand, we hope, we want and we believe.

Confidence is inspired by the fact that in terms of fundraising, Rusfond is still only two days behind compared to last year. Therefore, there is hope that 1.5 billion rubles. to support seriously ill children this year, as in the past, we will collect. An equally important problem of these days is how to enter our national bone marrow donor registry (national RDKM) into the federal registry that is currently being formed.

---

Vladimir Sorokin, General Director of the retail chain of hypermarkets “Lenta”:

— We continue to implement the company’s growth strategy until 2025. The current situation is different from what it was when we developed the strategy. Nevertheless, we do not plan to revise it, since the essence of the task has not changed for us.

---

Igor Ashmanov, CEO of Ashmanov & Partners:

– The planning horizon is up to one and a half to two years. And we no longer invest in startups, but invest only in our own. When you start a new project, you don’t really expect it to close in a year. For ongoing projects, there are annual business plans.

And it is impossible not to plan the vacation that my family and I spend, as a rule, on trips of 10-14 days. About six months before the start, we select some specific mountains or a river on the map of our country. And in advance and in detail we determine the route, equipment, tickets and instructors.

---

Yuri Levitas, restaurateur, co-owner of the Black Star Burger fast food restaurant chain:

– The planning horizon is at best until the end of the week, at worst for three hours. All because of a misunderstanding of what will happen in the country and the world. Accordingly, plans for business, unfortunately, are expectant: we try to do something based on the situation, but it is difficult to come up with something new.

No better with personal plans, although here the horizon can be a little more – from one day to a month, but no more. There is nothing interesting for the next period. And about rest, New Year’s gifts, especially something long-term, I don’t think at all.

---

Roman Aranin, CEO of a company producing rehabilitation equipment for the disabled Observer:

— For me, the work plan of the enterprise for the next five to ten years is clear. After some uncertainty in the midst of sanctions, we have purchased equipment worth 18 million rubles since March. and set themselves the task of fully protecting themselves from prohibitive barriers.

It would seem that the simplest piece of iron, but try to order it, bring it from China. Found and made in the country and three times cheaper! There is some tension with motors for wheelchairs, but the German suppliers have received an export license, and I hope to receive them on time and in the right amount. In addition, we have some support from influential EU officials.

---

Natalya Zubareva, founder and head of the Preventive Medicine Clinic:

“My team and I have Plan A, Plan B, and even Plan C. There are more plans than ever before. But we have to work many times more than even a year ago. I plan to expand my business in the next year.

I have three children, and now I try to pay more attention to them than usual. For the weekend I book a table in a restaurant – this is already a tradition. But the vacation now has to be planned for six months, and not for a month, as before.

Group “Direct speech”